Former Washington wolf killed in Canada

A wolf that left Washington's Smackout Pack more than a year ago was killed by British Columbia officials for livestock depredation issues in January.

Canadian authorities have killed a wolf that wandered from Washington state into British Columbia more than a year ago, an official of for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife says. The wolf had been attacking cattle.

Martorello said the wolf, a young male, left Washington’s Smackout Pack in northeastern Stevens County more than a year ago and went to east-central British Columbia.

Martorello said the Washington department is not involved in the case.

“For wolves, once they cross outside of our jurisdiction, they are no longer Washington wolves,” he said. “As soon as it crossed over, it became a British Columbia resident wolf.”

The department is working with British Columbia authorities to get the wolf’s tracking collar back, Martorello said.

In 2013, the state estimated between 51 and 101 wolves were in Washington. The department releases its annual report in early March.

Martorello said the past year was relatively quiet for wolf-livestock problems, with a calf killed in northeast Washington in August and a dog injured in March. Several October incidents are under investigation but there are no new developments involving livestock, he said.

“It’s a quiet time of the year, most of the livestock are off the range in terms of grazing allotments, getting geared up for calving fairly soon,” he said.

Martorello said it’s likely more wolves will spread across the state, calling them “great dispersers.” The department has established more than 12 positions around the state to work with producers to prevent conflict, he said.

“Certainly we’ll have new packs on the horizon and more potential for overlap with producers,” he said.